Identification of oligosaccharides in human and animal milk: from composition to synthesis

Summary

Because of the larger differences among human and animal milks, animal milk based infant formula fed infants have some health problems such as diarrhea. My PhD research is about the oligosaccharide concentrations in human and animal milks, we studied the milk oligosaccharide synthesis in cells. We first identified the significant effects of multiple factors on oligosaccharide concentrations in human milk. Moreover, oligosaccharide profile in human milk is large different with that in animal milk and camel milk has the most similar composition with human milk among animal milks. The cell culturing experiments showed additions of sugars can change milk oligosaccharide synthesis in cells by activating related enzymes. These results provide the new insights in oligosaccharide synthesis and regulations.